Pope begins Portuguese visit

(May 11, 2010) The Virgin Mary appeared in Fatima 93 years ago to remind us of the Gospel truths that constitute the source of hope for humanity which flows from the correct relationship with God. Pope Benedict XVI made the point on Tuesday on his arrival at the international airport of Lisbon in Portugal, where he is on a 4-day visit to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the beatification of Jacinta and Francisco, the two little shepherds, to whom along with their cousin, Lucia, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared several times in Fatima in 1917. I come as a pilgrim to Our Lady of Fatima, having received from on high the mission to strengthen my brothers as they advance along their pilgrim journey to heaven, the Pope said. In an apparent reference to the so-called miracle of the sun at the last Marian apparition, Pope Benedict said, it was a loving sign from God “when heaven itself was opened over Portugal – like a window of hope that God opens when man closes the door to him – in order to refashion, within the human family, the bonds of fraternal solidarity based on the mutual recognition of the one Father.” “It was not the Church that imposed Fatima but it was Fatima that imposed itself on the Church,” he said, adding, “The Virgin Mary came from heaven to remind us of Gospel truths that constitute for humanity – so lacking in love and without hope for salvation – the source of hope.” The primary and radical dimension of man’s hope, the Pope explained, is his relationship with God. This constitutes in seeking truth by means of his cognitive processes, and he tends towards the good in the sphere of volition, and he is attracted by beauty in the aesthetic dimension. The Pope said, “The visit that I am now beginning under the sign of hope is intended as a proposal of wisdom and mission.” “From a wise vision of life and of the world, the just ordering of society follows,” the Pope said adding that the Church is open to cooperating with anyone who does not marginalize or reduce to the private sphere the essential consideration of the human meaning of life. “The point at issue,” he said, “is not an ethical confrontation between a secular and a religious system, so much as a question about the meaning that we give to our freedom.” “What matters,” the Pope said, “is the value attributed to the problem of meaning and its implication in public life.”
Pope Benedict who is on his first visit to Portugal as Pontiff was welcomed at Lisbon airport by president Anibal Cavaco Silva, his wife, Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo, Patriarch of Lisbon and political, church and civil authorities. While flying with journalists from Rome to Lisbon, the Pontiff said that the sexual abuse scandal by priests should make the Church acknowledge the "terrifying" truth that its greatest threat comes not from outside enemies but from "sin within the Church". He called for profound purification and penance within the church as well as pardon and justice. Pope Benedict was responding to journalists' questions, submitted in advance, aboard the papal plane.
With regard to the economic crisis shaking Europe, including Portugal, the Pope stressed that the ‘moral component’ cannot be ignored. He said the crisis demonstrated the need for greater moral responsibility in running the global financial system and noted that he outlined his vision for a more ethical financial system in his 2009 encyclical “Charity in Truth.” “We must confess that the Catholic faith, the Christian faith is often very individualistic and has handed over concrete economic things to the world ... without realizing that there was an implicit global responsibility,” Pope Benedict said. He called for greater dialogue within the financial system with an eye to ethical considerations. Similarly, the pontiff called for greater dialogue between faith and the secular world. As has been the case with much of western Europe, Portugal has drifted away from church teaching on key issues. Pope Benedict praised Portugal's Catholic heritage, saying it was a “great force of faith” in spreading Catholicism around the globe, from Brazil to Africa and Asia, during colonial time. But he acknowledged that secularism had taken hold. “We must find the synthesis of dialogue,” Benedict said.
Later on Tuesday, Pope Benedict was to celebrate an open-air Mass in Lisbon’s Commerce Square. On Wednesday he will fly to the famed Marian shrine in Fatima and will also visit Porto on Friday before flying back to Rome that day.